Workers plunge to death as scaffolding cable snaps at dam construction site

Six workers were standing on the suspended scaffolding, drilling holes in concrete at the construction site of the Plei Kan Hydropower Project in the Central Highlands province when the cable snapped.

The scaffolding and workers fell from a height of 20 meters, killing three and injuring the others.

About 10 workers working nearby rushed to the accident site and helped take the victims to the emergency ward of the Kon Tum General Hospital.

The killed workers were between 25 and 27 years old.

The Plei Kan hydropower plant in Ngoc Hoi District is a VND576 billion ($24.6 million) project implemented by the Hanoi-based Tan Phat Construction Company. The plant, with a designed capacity of 17 MW, is nearing completion, local authorities said.

They said work on damming the Po Ko River in Plei Kan Town, Dak Nong Commune, Ngoc Hoi District, began in 2018. It covers a total area of more than 100 hectares.

An investigation has been launched into the accident.

Construction site accidents are not uncommon in Vietnam.

On May 14, 10 workers were killed and 15 others injured in another major labor accident triggered by the collapse of a wall, five meters high and 100 meters long, at the construction site of a South Korean firm in the southern province of Dong Nai.

The AV Healthcare company specializes in producing tampons, diapers and milk bottles in the Giang Dien Industrial Park.

Last year, six workers died after a wall at a construction site in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long collapsed suddenly.

In 8,150 work-related accidents last year, 979 people were killed and nearly 2,000 others injured, according to the Ministry of Construction.